Crippen Park’s Seaside Cottage #1, located at the entrance to the park trail on Cardena Road is sparse but not empty. Former caretaker Michael Chapman received a letter in September from Metro Vancouver Parks asking him to move out at the end of his contract, on December 31. Chapman, however, has not only not moved out but is also opening his doors to anyone who needs a place to warm-up.
“If Metro wants to evict me, I think it is only fair to respect the law,” says Chapman, citing organization failure to correctly follow the Residential Tenancy Act as legal rationale for not abiding by their request to move-out of the building.
Chapman, who is well known as an advocate for affordable housing on Bowen, says the termination of his contract and tenancy without explanation is unreasonable. Having requested and failed to get an explanation from Metro Vancouver Parks on the termination, Chapman filed a Freedom of Information request on any communications that pertain to him. At the end of December, that request was fulfilled and he was offered a number of heavily redacted letters and twenty pages of completely redacted documents.
“It seems there is some fundamental issue they are unwilling to share with me, but I will do whatever I can to get answers,” says Chapman.
In response to an interview request by The Undercurrent, media relations manager Don Bradley stated that the Metro Vancouver Parks is not at liberty to discuss the particulars of this situation, however, they intend to use the building for other park-related purposes.
“I plan on staying here and working with Metro to find a mutually agreeable resolution,” says Chapman. “I hand delivered my rent cheque to the Metro Parks office-mailbox on January 1. Fearing I would have to move out, I liquidated most of my belongings and furniture. That leaves me with a simple, open space that also happens to be warm and centrally located. Between January 1 and January 10, I had 26 visits as well as a number of donations of soup and food to offer. At this point, I won’t turn anyone away, but I am still hoping council will open one of their buildings in the Cove for this purpose.”
Chapman says that from his perspective as a social justice advocate, this situation points to an opportunity to discuss Metro’s un-occupied residential properties on Bowen and ways of bringing them back into community use.
